Viaje del Parnaso y poesías sueltas

"The chief object of the poem is to survey contemporary poets, assembled on an imaginary boat to Parnassus, and ridicule (and sometimes throw overboard) those who, in Cervantes' opinion, are deficient. This satire is of a peculiar character: an effusion of sportive humour, leaving it a matter of doubt whether Cervantes intended to praise or to ridicule the individuals whom he points out as being particularly worthy of the favour of Apollo. He himself says: "Those whose names do not appear in this list may be just as well pleased as those who are mentioned in it." Cervantes' aims in composing the poem seem to have been to characterise true poetry according to his own poetic feelings, to manifest in a decided way his enthusiasm for the art even in his old age, and to hold up a mirror for the conviction of those who were only capable of making rhymes and inventing extravagances. Concealed satire and open jesting are the combined elements of this work". -- cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaje_del_Parnaso.